Why Join?

  • Add New Books

  • Write a Review

  • Backpack Reading Lists

  • Newsletter Updates

Join Now

Filter:

Land of Smiles

Land of Smiles
  • Author(s): T C Huo
  • Location(s): Thailand, California, Oakland
  • Genre(s): Fiction
  • Era(s): 1970s

Set in the 1970s, in the era of the Vietnam War and its volatile aftermath, Land of Smiles tells the story of a young Southeast Asian man’s journey from a refugee camp in Thailand to a housing project in...

More Like Wrestling

More Like Wrestling
  • Author(s): Danyel Smith
  • Location(s): Oakland
  • Genre(s): Fiction
  • Era(s): 1980s

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing… “More Like Wrestling” tells the story of Pinch and Paige, two sisters coming of age in Oakland, California, in the 1980s, a time when that beautiful, crumbling city is...

Nightcrawling

Nightcrawling
  • Author(s): Leila Mottley
  • Location(s): Oakland
  • Genre(s): Fiction
  • Era(s): Contemporary

When there is no choice, all you have left to do is walk. Kiara Johnson does not know what it is to live as a normal seventeen-year-old. With her mother in a rehab facility and an older brother who...

The 57 Bus

The 57 Bus
  • Author(s): Dashka Slater
  • Location(s): Oakland, California
  • Genre(s): Young Adult
  • Era(s): 2013, 21st century

Winner of the Stonewall Young Adult Literature Award One teenager in a skirt. One teenager with a lighter. One moment that changes both their lives forever. Two teenagers growing up in Oakland, California. One, Sasha, was born male but...

The Mistress of Spices

The Mistress of Spices
  • Author(s): Chitra Divakaruni
  • Location(s): Oakland
  • Genre(s): Fiction
  • Era(s): Contemporary

Tilo, an immigrant from India, runs an Indian spice shop in Oakland, California. While she dispenses the classic ingredients for curries and kormas, she also helps her customers to gain a more precious commodity: whatever they most desire. For...

There There

There There
  • Author(s): Tommy Orange
  • Location(s): Oakland
  • Era(s): Contemporary

Jacquie Red Feather and her sister Opal grew up together, relying on each other during their unsettled childhood. As adults they were driven apart, but Jacquie is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she...

Would you like to add a book or a review or create a reading list? Join Today – It's FREE

Register Now